Well of course there was Halloween, we spent it at PIR at the ChumpCar race that my older brother was all set to race in but 2 1/2 hours into the 24 hour endurance race the car gave out and despite at herculean effort by his teammates they could not get the car running.
Oh well there was good candy and other little goodies as some vendors were there. Plus we got to see Uncle Chris, grandma and grandpa, uncle Jeremy, Aunt Megan and cousins Leila (the spider witch) and Nathan(umm the only boy, a transformer I think).
Carina's was a princess for the 2nd year, Cinderella this year. She got to were her costume to school, Travis asked me if I was sure about that because she they might go play outside. I said "they wouldn't do that with all the kids costumes on" When I pulled in there they all were on the dirty playground. But it must have been the fairy godmother dust that kept her clean because she didn't have a speck on her.
Of course there are nearly daily trips to the park. Daddy takes her before dropping her off, it is nearly always to late and cold and now to dark when I get her.
The beach trip I will never forget. When we arrived we noticed Seal lion playing in the waves and it beached itself. We, being smart animal loving people gave it a wide birth. Well Mr. ODFW had to take a look from a respectful distance. Travis has tangoed with them in the past and knows they can be mean. So I went boogie boarding and had a relatively good time. I got a couple good rides in and one really rough tumble. Travis then went out and Sadie, our 50 lbs 9 year old springer spaniel, who is actually a good swimmer(five years ago) decided that he needed to be rescued. I managed to wrangle her back but I got distracted playing with Carina and taking pictures. The next thing I know she is done the beach running after him. I know two things the the current was pretty strong on that day and that Sadie didn't stand a chance. I told Carina to stay in the beach tent and I sprinted after her, again. And again I managed to get her turned back around. But I am not paying any attention at this point and hear a barking behind me. I managed to get between the sea lion and his exit i.e. the water. I make quick evasive maneuvers and get out of the way but then the half blind dog decides to get curious so then I am thinking okay Carina is watching I cant let the sea lion eat her so I dive in between them and grab frantically at Sadie and get her away from the sea lion. Then I realize a small crowed has formed watching the my little spectacle. Sadie was then secured to a large log until it was time to leave the beach. I hid under the beach tent with Carina trying to regain my regain a normal heartbeat. At dinner I drank my Rogue hefeweizen at Mo's like it was my heart medicine.
If you haven't been to the predators exhibit at the Zoo, stop reading this and go....NOW...GO! We also went on Halloween, which was a hoot, they have special enrichment activities for the animals with pumpkins and a scavenger hunt. I wish I could make this a annual tradition, but unfortunately work with get in the way until Halloween is declared a national holiday.
And finally this last weekend we went skiing. Carina is doing so well and loves it even more now that she has pink pants and a pink ski jacket.
If you haven't been to the predators exhibit at the Zoo, stop reading this and go....NOW...GO! We also went on Halloween, which was a hoot, they have special enrichment activities for the animals with pumpkins and a scavenger hunt. I wish I could make this a annual tradition, but unfortunately work with get in the way until Halloween is declared a national holiday.
And finally this last weekend we went skiing. Carina is doing so well and loves it even more now that she has pink pants and a pink ski jacket.
I helped her into her outfits and I told her she was a model. We chose the brown sweater dress with the legging's.
Shopping made her work up an appetite for pizza and root beer, or so she said. I think she really just want the root beer and to ride the escalator. After lunch we went to Nordstrom to oggle over the handbags because Leila told me she likes purses neither of us found one we couldn't live without though.
For those of you who have been around since Carina's first birthday I guess this shouldn't come as such a surprise. But Grandma loaded up the horse and cart and came to Portland so Carina could ride in the parade. Carina was afraid at first and really didn't want to get on but once she saw her 90 year old G.G. was going to ride she was all for it. And along the way Carina picked up her best Friend Wyatt which also helped. (I see romantic horse and buggy rides in their future.) 
Wyatt's little sister Avery joined the fun and Carina took her job of holding on to her tightly very seriously. As you can imagine it was a hit at the parade and we even had some people follow us home for a ride.
